Protecting the Virtual Datacenter – 10 Things You Need to Know

Join us for an upcoming webcast and learn about top 10 things you need to know to protect your customer’s data. We’ll cover the top risks to avoid in the virtualized IT environment, how a comprehensive strategy includes virtualization-specific data protection and data security and provide key recommendations for protecting the critical data and investment in virtualization.

This week's newsletter is all about a very cool feature of Windows Phone 8 that lets you restore your data and settings to a new phone should your present phone get crushed under the wheels of a bus (or some similar disaster befalls it). We welcome Philip Elder, a Microsoft MVP and owner of an IT Solutions Provider based in Alberta, Canada who has contributed this week's guest editorial on this subject

Speaking of disasters, why is it that human nature always seems to take delight in hoping that disasters will happen? For answers to this and other thought-provoking questions we turn again to xkcd the webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language:http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442641347

Short Personal Note

Just a few minutes ago I just received confirmation of my having received Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for the tenth year in a row.

[cue applause]

Thanks! Here's a vanity shot for those interested:

Thanks for allowing me a moment of self-indulgence ;-)

From the Mailbag

We've received quite a lot of feedback concerning the topic of last week's newsletter Does the IT Profession need to be Regulated? (Issue #973) both for and against this matter, and we'll be devoting next week's newsletter to examining what WServerNews readers think about it. In the meantime, if you have any further observations concerning this issue, please feel free to send them to us at [email protected]

And now on to our guest editorial by Philip Elder...

Restoring a Windows Phone

Here's a hidden gem with Windows Phone 8. Recently I managed to pancake my Nokia Lumia 920. The end result was the glass being shattered but still intact within the phone. A bit of box tape and it was functional but not easy to work with sight wise.

A very cool feature built into Windows Phone 8 is the ability to run through a few steps on a newly purchased or reset phone to bring it right back to where the previous phone was.

Once the existing SIM card was installed in the new phone and the phone has finished booting we are greeted with the Windows Phone 8 Welcome Screen:

Once we tap on Get Started we need to choose the default language and accept the Windows Phone terms of use.

Our next option is to choose how to set up the phone:

In my case I accept the defaults by tapping on Recommended, choose my time zone settings, and then connect to our shop’s WiFi:

Any guesses as to which SSID belongs to us? :-)

And now we come to the hidden gem:

We are asked to sign in to our Microsoft ID:

A small caveat with this step for folks that have set up 2 factor authentication is that an App Password will need to be generated in order to get in. Log in to https://account.live.com and navigate to Security Info to generate the required code:

Now, given that I’ve had a few Windows Phone 8 devices I’m presented with a number of options at the restore screen:

Note the Don’t Restore option if there is a desire to start from scratch. In this case though I want my Nokia 1020 right back to where the Nokia 920 was before it.

After about 5 to 10 minutes the restore process is almost complete. The phone will then prompt for any associated e-mail account passwords:

John Doe is the test mailbox account for a client that we just finished migrating from Small Business Server 2003 R2 Premium to a virtualization stack based on Windows Server 2012 R2, Exchange 2013 CU3, SQL 2012, SharePoint, and their line of business applications on Hyper-V hosts.

The other two mailboxes are my corporate mailbox and my personal mailbox.

A few more taps later and the phone is almost done. Given that our Exchange infrastructure requires complex passwords the phone proceeded to prompt for one to be set.

Finally, after about 30 minutes:

The really cool thing about this process? It was all done at the Rogers store. I walked out of that store fully productive on my Windows Phone 8 device!

About Philip Elder

Philip Elder own MPECS Inc. an IT Solutions Provider based out of St. Albert, Alberta Canada with his wife Monique. Together they have developed a broad range of products and services to provide the best all-around solution set to their clients. Philip initially honed his tech skills on Small Business Server and IT hardware. He is now focused on providing Microsoft Stack Solutions, Hyper-V Failover Clusters, Storage Spaces based solutions, and developing Microsoft Private Cloud Solutions. Philip has been an SBS MVP since 2009. He is certified on SBS 2008 Standard and 2011 Standard. He is also an author and prolific writer on their company blog, Microsoft forums, and other help forums on the InterWebs.

Tip of the Week: Enumerating unique processes

This week's tip was contributed by Ed Wilson a.k.a. The Scripting Guy at Microsoft:

PowerTip: Use Windows PowerShell to count the number of unique processes

Question: You want to know how many processes on a system are unique. How can you easily find this information?

Answer: Use the Get-Process cmdlet to get the list of processes. Pipeline the resulting objects to the Sort-Object cmdlet and then to the Get-Unique cmdlet. Pipeline the entire results to the Measure-Object cmdlet. This technique appears here:

Microsoft Virtual Academy

Some announcements from the Microsoft Virtual Academy:

April 30: Microsoft Corporate BI and SAP BI Integration Jump Start

Don’t miss this engaging, demo-filled online Jump Start course for the IT Pro looking to deliver next-generation self-service BI. It’s a live, half-day course, offering practical details on Power BI, Power Query, and Power View in Excel, along with the recently announced a new add-in to connect with SAP BusinessObjects BI. Plus, you’ll hear about some fascinating real-world case studies, including how Microsoft uses BI to fight cybercrime and botnets. Register here:http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442730988

Using Kanban Jump Start

Now available for on-demand viewing, “Using Kanban,” features experts from Northwest Cadence, who show you how to move beyond boards to visualize your dev team work and to progressively understand and resolve impediments to improve the flow of value delivery. This is the first in our recent “ALM Wednesdays” series. View it here:http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442735113

Using Git with Visual Studio 2013 Jump Start

Git has become wildly popular as a source control system in the development community. Companies large and small, individuals, the open source community, and others swear by Git. So what's all the excitement about and what are the benefits of using Git with Visual Studio online and Windows Azure? View this recorded Jump Start course to get a fundamental understanding. Watch it here:http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442739473

Small Business courses from MVA

For small businesses migrating from to a newer version of Windows or Office, these on-demand courses offer practical tips and detailed demos to walk you through the steps and tools needed to upgrade, configure and administer Windows and Office. The courses cover app compatibility, bring your own device (BYOD) scenarios, security, and troubleshooting Windows. Plus the details on managing users, mailboxes, contacts, websites, and other productivity and collaboration tools in Office 365. View the courses here:http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442743457

Software Testing Fundamentals

To gain a fundamental understanding of software testing, this online course is for you. It can also help prepare you for Exam 98-379, a key component of the MTA: Software Testing Fundamentals certification. The course explores the basics in test methodologies. It also focuses on working with software bugs, creating and managing software tests, and even test automation. Additional MSDN referenced content is included. Watch the course here:http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442747769

Quote of the Week

"Time is more value than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time." - Jim Rohn

Cayosoft's Admin Assistant for Office 365 makes office 365 seem like it is running on a server right in your office. Requires no complex and awkward components or scripting.http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396521834511

Server performance problems? Find out why with FactFinder Express. See whether the issue is a slow app, slow SQL requests, or a CPU/Memory/Disk bottleneck. 30 day free trial.http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396521830151

Webcast Calendar

Join e-Discovery and Computer Forensics expert Karen Schuler and Sherpa Solutions Architect, Rick Wilson to learn about the key factors a good information governance strategy should include, why such programs are critical to the success of your business, and gain a better understanding of the key role that IT professionals must play in corporate-wide governance initiatives and managing eDiscovery efforts. This live, interactive event will take place on Wednesday, April 16th at 2PM EDT.

Windows Server News

Turning a corner with platform services

Moving applications to the cloud accounts for less than 5% of IT budgets on average, but platform services – a new way to utilize the cloud offered through APIs – is setting out to change that. Learn more about this emerging cloud trend inside.http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442883333

How to stay relevant in an automated world

Automation can provide enterprises with reliable, measurable and efficient results, but only if implemented with the right tools and tactics – like automated scripting. Learn more about how this automation tactic can solve problems, eliminate redundant processes and keep you ahead.http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442891192

Microsoft Windows 8.1 updates to bring back familiar features

Not everyone lives their life on touchscreen devices. As a result, Microsoft is backtracking to make Windows 8 more user-friendly for traditional desktops. This report provides an exclusive look at how Microsoft is handling this market pressure and the specific changes you can expect from the upcoming Windows 8.1 updates.http://www.wservernews.com/go/1396442896489

WServerNews FAVE Links

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WServerNews - Product of the Week

Protecting the Virtual Datacenter – 10 Things You Need to Know

Join us for an upcoming webcast and learn about top 10 things you need to know to protect your customer’s data. We’ll cover the top risks to avoid in the virtualized IT environment, how a comprehensive strategy includes virtualization-specific data protection and data security and provide key recommendations for protecting the critical data and investment in virtualization.

WServerNews - Editors

Mitch Tulloch is Senior Editor of WServerNews and is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, deployment and virtualization. Mitch was lead author of the bestselling Windows 7 Resource Kit from Microsoft Press and has published hundreds of articles for IT pros. Mitch is also a seven-time recipient of Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for his outstanding contributions in support of the global IT pro community. Mitch owns and runs an information technology content development business based in Winnipeg, Canada. For more information see www.mtit.com

Ingrid Tulloch is Associate Editor of WServerNews and was co-author of the Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking from Microsoft Press. Ingrid is also Head of Research for our content development business and has co-developed university-level courses in Information Security Management for a Masters of Business Administration program.